Posted on June 2, 2014
Fantasy Flight Game Center: The Review
Mike and I went to the Fantasy Flight Game Center in Roseville this Sunday. I was expecting Valhalla in the suburbs. I didn’t quite find it, itâs too clean for that and I was not served by Valkyries, but a good time was had. Â
Iâd put the menu on par with the type of place that calls itself a coffee shop but doesnât make me want to kill myself when I go in. So it has a small selection of snacks, sandwiches, burgers, etc.  We had an order of truffle fries which were good and fairly priced ($3.95). The drink selection is thorough, coffee, tea, pop, beer and cider. There are three beers on tap (Surly Hell, Surly Somethingelse and Summit EPA) and a decent selection of cans and bottles.
There is an enormous amount of open table space. Easily the largest amount Iâve seen and although the place was busy it never felt full. They have some pretty kick ass scenery for 40K. The table space is accompanied by two rather large bookshelves packed full of games to play. No need to ask, just take a game and find a seat.Â
Mike and I played a game called Seven Wonders the premise of which is that youâre trying to build an ancient wonder of the world and the city surrounding it. Neither of us had played so we were just picking up the rules which made it a little difficult.  It was quick and fun though and I would consider buying a copy someday.
One area for improvement would be the store itself. It had a very good selection of board games and 40K but was lacking in role playing material. They had a decent selection of Pathfinder stuff, no D&D and a few other games I hadnât heard of. Itâs better than a smaller game shop for this but the Source has much better selection. The staff was very friendly and helpful though. It was a far more welcoming environment than most games stores. Iâd give it a solid A- overall.
So after missing the first outing to Fantasy Flights imaginatively named Games Center (whoa there on the fantasy, guys…), I took off up to Roseville to meet Bryce and Rolland.
There isn’t much point in me posting pictures of the place when their website does a virtual fly-by colonoscopy of the place and everyone they hired to take photos is better at taking photos than me. But I will text edit the photos a little: The art on the walls is better, it wasn’t nearly as busy and there were more women and kids than shown on the website. So those are all positives.
What’s hard to put into the pictures is how nice it is to so many things I like in one place. We ate poutine and drank beer and devilishly strong coffee and I lost two games of 7 Wonders while laughing about burning each other’s cities to the ground AND THAT’S MOSTLY ALL I’VE EVER REALLY WANTED. It’s not cheap – busy airport cafeteria prices, but not outrageous. And while it isn’t a super deep menu, it is at least customizable, so there’s no way I’m not getting a Mushroom Gruyere Burger with bagon and a fried egg added the next time I’m there.
7 Wonders, by the way, is a game the Penicuik game group knows and loves and by the end of the second run through I thought we were doing a good job remembering the rules. It’s a fun, easy game that someone should pick up for cheap, because it has been out for a while now.
I couldn’t stay long, but I also couldn’t leave without buying something, so I bought Paizo’s Pathfinder Rules Flash cards. Yes, Basic Pathfinder rules on playing cards. Easy to flick to players who are too lazy to look up the rules. Which is the best thing Paizo could do if they can’t print on ninja stars. The shop isn’t very big, but a short drive takes you to the mammoth shelving of The Source, so that’s not a problem.
Peeling myself away from home isn’t always easy, but that’s a short car journey and worth the occasional treat.